One Last Shot
by Duration
Summary: AU. With time quickly running out, can they realize how much they need each other before it's too late? Kakashi/Naruto


**A/N: **Damn. It has been nearly a year since I've posted anything. I read the cutest Kakashi/Naruto fic the other day and decided it was time to try my hand at this... and shake the dust off my pen.

**Disclaimer:** I'm planning on stealing Kakashi all for myself sooner or later, but until that joyous day they still belong to Masashi Kishimoto. So no, I don't own them.

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Naruto nervously entwined his fingers, and placed them on his lap. He bit his bottom lip in eager anticipation. "This was a bad idea."

"I know."

"No seriously. This was a _very_ bad idea."

" I _know_, Naruto." He repeated firmly. He ran a hand through his disshelved hair as he paced through the room. His tired eyes roamed the surface of the carpet as if hoping it would hold any answers. "… Maybe I should just leave—"

"No!" Naruto sprang up from the couch. "Kakashi, we can figure something out. We've gotta. With great minds like ours I'm sure we can."

Kakashi shot him an uncertain look, but quickly reverted his sight back to the dull carpet. He thought of commenting on how disgusting the carpet actually was, but thought better of it. "Naruto."

The addressed boy looked up. He noticed that the man before him appeared absolutely exhausted and he felt slightly guilty for it. "Naruto, I really think I should leave." He held his finger up before the blonde could protest. "I need to leave. I'm sure if there was some way, _any_ way, that I could have prevented it or if I could rewind time before all this began, I would do it without a doubt."

As hot-tempered as Naruto was, he immediately felt his blood boil. "You've got to be kidding me. You want to leave and you want to forget about all this?" He asked, borderline hysterics. "How far back do you want to go Kakashi?? Back before I ever meant anything? Because if I don't mean anything now, then why the hell didn't you tell me so I wouldn't have gotten my hopes up so high for you!"

"Naruto—"

"No, shut _up_ Kakashi! If you want to leave, then just go. Just get the hell out of here!"

"I won't be coming back."

Naruto sighed, drooping his head. "…I know."

Kakashi whispered an inaudible sentence before taking his leave. As the door shut silently behind him, Naruto cradled his pounding head in his hands, and fell back into the minor comfort of his couch.

As Kakashi reached his own sloppy apartment, he was greeted by the retreating figure of his ex-high school student. "Oh Kakashi! I was hoping to catch you today." She said, smiling brightly. He hadn't seen her around too often after high school. She pushed a loose strand of her vibrant pink hair behind her ear, and Kakashi returned the smile. "Sakura, this is quite the surprise. They allow you to continue with your pink hair in your field of work?"

She grinned, "Not usually, but since it's a very small hospital they can make an exception." She ruffled her hair, and against all envied odds, it fell neatly into place.

"So Sakura, what have I done to achieve the pleasure of this visit?"

"To be honest," she replied. "I've been needing to find Naruto for a while now. It seems he's changed his current residence since his last visit to our hospital. That, or he's been ignoring our letters and phone calls."

Kakashi winced inwardly. "Hm. Likely the latter. Is something wrong?" He dared asking. His mind was accustomed to worry over the well being of the exuberant blonde.

Sakura looked away. "I'm sorry Kakashi, I'd be breaking our personnel confidential, seeing as how you aren't immediate family."

_I might as well be,_ he thought with a gnawing sensation eating at the pit of his stomach. Kakashi simply nodded instead. "I am sorry, but please let Naruto know that we need to contact him as soon as possible if you see him around."

"I won't." He stated bitterly, and Sakura quirked an eyebrow, but didn't inquire further. She had learned to suppress her curiosity for gossip after she reached a higher level of maturity. "I hope to see you again soon to catch up. It's been a while since I was just your student, Kakashi."

"It has."

Sakura smiled and patted her high school teacher softly on the shoulder. "Take care of yourself!" She called to him as she walked away.

Kakashi stared blankly at his apartment. No sooner than stepping through the door did he know that thoughts of Naruto would plague his mind, and he immediately felt unsettled by his short conversation with Sakura. Kakashi didn't get any sleep that night.

Naruto awoke from his light slumber. His vision blurred his surroundings and his head began to throb. Groaning loudly, he reached for the lamp. "Ugh… fuck it." He grumbled, and dropped his hand. As if on cue, the phone rang. Luck would have it that the phone was not a foot away from him, and rested on the coffee table before him. Naruto answered groggily, "Hello?"

"Naruto?"

"Yeah, who else would I be?"

The person on the other end chuckled, "Oh Naruto, this is Sakura. I've been trying to get a hold of you for weeks. The hospital has been sending countless letters and phone calls, but not receiving any response.

_The hospital._ Naruto's headache just got worse. He considered hanging up.

"Naruto, we really need to speak with you." She said, her voice was concerned, but equally professional. He noted how much more mature she sounded since high school.

"Hey Sakura," he started. "I've really got to get going. I have so many things to do, and—"

She cut him off. "No, Naruto. Stop the bullshit now. We need to talk, and I've gotten incredibly tired of you purposely evading us. Look, I'm on my way now to your house. I'm not even five minutes away."

"Sakura, please don't…"

"I'm sorry, Naruto." She hung up.

Naruto lifted himself from the couch and just as soon did a million different things hit him. His knees wobbled, and buckled from beneath him. With not enough time to react his face met harshly with the carpet, smashing his nose. Retching, he clutched his aching stomach in pain. From the force of his wounded nose, tears welled up in his eyes without consent. Just as Sakura promised, a knock was heard at the door. Naruto lifted a hand from his stomach to cover his bleeding nose. "…Go 'way!"

"Naruto?" She called from outside. "Naruto, are you alright?"

When she heard no reply, save the pained groans the blonde unintentionally emitted, she turned the doorknob and let herself in. "Oh my gosh, Naruto!"

Naruto distantly heard his name being called worriedly, but as he tried to cease his persistent cough, his vision blurred. "…'kashi." He whispered before his head fell backwards and his eyes shut.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _The repetitive beeping of the heart monitor roused Naruto to consciousness. His eyes felt to heavy to open, so he listened to the noises around him. Upon lightly adjusting the position of his arm, a voice called, "Mr. Uzumaki?"

Naruto did not respond. He heard the shuffling of feel and a soft touch on his arm. The nurse practitioner inspected the monitors and jotted a few notes to her clipboard. "Mr. Uzumaki, can you hear me?

The blonde again did not respond, he chose to listen instead. A door swung open before clicking shut and he heard another bout of shuffling feet. "Ms. Haruno, the patient seems to have regained consciousness, though he doesn't seem to respond to me very well."

"Thank you." Sakura said and Naruto's ears perked up. "Please find Dr. Sanin and bring her here." The nurse nodded and left the room. As she departed, Sakura pulled up a chair next to the hospital bed and reached for Naruto's hand.

"Please, wake up Naruto." She whispered. "Wake up. I know you can."

"You'll be fine. I'll do everything in my power to make sure of it." Sakura felt her eyes water, and used her free hand to wipe at them. "For god's sake Naruto, you were always the number one goofball. _You're going to be okay!_" Sakura sounded as though she was trying to convince herself more than anything, so Naruto squeezed her hand.

"…sakura."

At that moment, the door burst open again and Dr. Sanin entered. "Sakura." She said firmly, and Sakura dropped Naruto's hand. "Is the patient awake?"

"He is, yes."

"Good." Tsunade moved to Naruto's side. "Naruto, it shows here that you're making progress. Open your damn eyes."

Naruto complied. He parted his heavy eyelids and squinted, taking in his surroundings. The white walls of the room hurt his eyes and he felt as if two bricks where weighing them down. "Shut up, old hag." He whispered weakly. Tsunade smiled.

"Sakura, please leave us." Sakura nodded and did as she was told.

The woman sighed as soon as she was alone with the boy. "Look at me, Naruto."

Naruto looked at her. He had seen her just a few weeks before, but she seemed so different— so _tired. _"Why am I here?"

Tsunade was trained to inform patients of their afflictions and illnesses without delay. It seemed much too hard to do for Naruto. For Naruto, the boy she had known since he was just a child. She only wished for the best. "Naruto, you are very sick."

Naruto frowned. "Then why'd you guys bring me to the hospital? If I was only sick I could have just taken some Nyquil and had been okay. You doctors have gotten too overdramatic."

"No, Naruto. This is more than just a cold." She said, sadly looking down on him. "Naruto… you have cancer. You have leukemia."

Naruto felt the walls close around him as Tsunade explained the details of his illness. She left shortly after to allow the blonde time to gather his thoughts alone. It was nearly too much for her to bear to watch the boy, who she regarded as a grandchild, appear so distraught. He watched her exit the room, and decided not to think about things. It would only make it that much harder. So Naruto fell asleep.

_"Naruto." He heard his name being called, so he spun around. "Congratulations, I'm very proud of you." Kakashi smiled, and rested his hand on the boy's hair. "Make the best of your life, regrets are not something you want to have linger in your mind."_

_"Mr. Hatake, don't bother worrying about me." Naruto said. "You know me, I think I can make it through anything."_

_"I'm sure you will. It's your graduation day, call me Kakashi."_

_Naruto unleashed his cheekiest grin. "You bet, Kakashi!" Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair, and then turned to leave. The school year was over, and Naruto is graduating. He felt no need stick around. Naruto's smile never faltered. "Kakashi…" _

_- -_

"_Get the fuck off me!" Naruto shouted, slamming his fists on everything he could reach in an attempt to free himself. He felt the blood dripping from his lips trickle down his chin, and screamed louder. "Get __**off**__!"_

"_Hey, what are you kids doing out here?" Naruto looked up to see his high school teacher standing before the group of boys. The crowd nodded to each other and departed simultaneously. Kakashi glared at them as they left, and he too turned to leave._

"_Kakashi…"_

_Kakashi stopped. He wasn't aware that somebody still remained. He looked around to find Naruto bloodied and battered on the concrete. "Naruto!" _

"_Yeah, it's me." Kakashi rushed to the boy, and lifted him to take him into his house to treat his wounds._

"_Thanks… Kakashi." _

_- -_

"_Will you just let it go, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, exhausted. "You're only a kid, you wouldn't understand." _

_Naruto fumed. "I will not let it go. I'm 19 years old. It doesn't matter whether I'm a kid or not. I still feel pain. Every damn day, you asshole, I still feel pain. Don't ask me to just let it go." Kakashi looked taken aback, and felt like apologizing. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't want to hear. He turned on his heel to storm off. Only Kakashi was faster and grabbed his shoulder. He spun him around._

_Naruto stared at the full face staring back at him. He was at a complete loss for words. The man before him never revealed his entire face to him. Throughout Naruto's memory, he had only ever seen the mask and the ridiculous navy blue bandage over a single eye. Kakashi's face was unreadable. "…You're face…"_

_Curiosity always got the better of the blonde. He reached his hands to feel. He traced his fingers along the elder's nose, cheeks, and the corners of his lips, and he felt Kakashi lean into the gentle caress. "…Naruto."_

_Naruto couldn't stop himself. He curled his fingers through the silver hair, and pulled the exposed lips harshly against his. Kakashi pressed back, and wrapped his hands around the lithe waist, bringing him closer. Close just never seemed enough._

The final memory forced to Naruto to jump, accidentally ripping the oxygen aid from his face, and causing his aching stomach to act up again. "Fuck you, Kakashi!" Tears fell from his eyes due to being absolutely drained, physically and emotionally.

"I think you need to relax." A voice said from the chair beside the bed. Instead of doing as instructed, Naruto shouted in surprise. The man rolled his eyes. "Naruto, I'm serious."

Naruto turned and saw the one man he was just reflecting on. He settled himself back into the hospital bed. "I thought you would never come back."

Kakashi sighed. "I wasn't."

"Then why the hell are you here? I don't need you around, I can handle everything just fine." Stubborn as ever, Naruto moved further away from the man he craved. "I don't need you."

Unconvinced, Kakashi placed his hand on the boy's forehead. "You're burning up. I'm sorry, I guess I shouldn't have come."

"No. You shouldn't have." Kakashi interpreted that as a request for him to leave. He ran his fingers through Naruto's hair before standing up.

The blonde watched step-by-step as the man moved towards the door, and his breathing began to grow irregular when Kakashi turned the doorknob. He didn't want to watch him leave again. The door opened and Naruto screamed, "Kakashi, no!"

The man stopped in his tracks, a small smile gracing his features. "Don't you dare walk out on me again, you asshole." To Naruto's disgust, tears began spilling from his eyes. "Don't walk out on me again. I want you here for as long as I can keep you…"

When Kakashi turned around, his feet carried him swiftly to the bedside on their own accord. He reached for Naruto's face as gently as he could. "Naruto, I know I should never have come back, but I want to be here with you for as long as you're here with me. We only have one last shot at this."

Naruto smiled. He felt weak, but he wasn't entirely sure whether it was the disease or the words Kakashi was saying. "I know there's only one shot," He whispered. "I'm sick, but you know me, I can make it through anything… I'm sure I'll make the hit."

"I know you can." Kakashi wiped the tears from Naruto's cheek as he leaned forward to meet the lips he could never really walk away from.

**And I'm still waiting for a sign  
Or just a win-win situation  
Can I hear it one more time?  
Without the sound of devastation setting in...**

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**A/N:** The idea for this came from the song _Remember When_ by There For Tomorrow and from me battling a few minor illnesses. I don't have cancer, but the thought popped into my head, and then quickly mutated into a theme for fanfiction.


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